Thyme After Time: Mole Chili Mac, A Gift From Heaven?

Mole

It's rich. It's smooth and creamy, velvety even. The flavor is unlike any I have tried before....

I remember the first time I tried mole like it was yesterday (or maybe this past weekend). It was paired with a pork chop and some various greens at a small Mexican restaurant in Ohio City called Momocho. I hadn't been there in years and had forgotten how talented the chef was. I was immediately inspired. All of the dishes I have tried there are absolutely amazing (not to mention the best and most creative margaritas I have ever had the pleasure of trying.) I could see myself moving in with them and having the nice staff cook for me daily. The scenario was pretty tempting. Somehow, I had a feeling my budget and my husband would have a thing or two to say about that so the idea quickly faded.

Two days later I received a gift. My boss gave me a chunk of cheddar cheese embedded with chocolate chips. This was the oddest cheese I had yet to come across. It was a very interesting gift, indeed. I considered it a challenge. I stared at the cheese as it mocked me! What could one possibly do with such an odd combination. So I thought back to Sunday when I had tried mole. Chocolate was an ingredient in mole. I don't think mole contained cheese, though. Would the two fit together? Would there be a way I could combine a mole-like dish and cheddar cheese? My favorite thing to do with cheddar is mac and cheese; rich and creamy and cheesy. Growing up, my family had their own version of a kind of chili mac. It didn't contain cheese. It really didn't contain much of anything actually, other than ground beef, tomato sauce and noodles. I don't recommend it. In any case, I wondered if I could combine a mac and cheese dish with a mole. If I could duplicate the flavors of a mole and make a chili with it, I could then use that as a base for my mac and cheese dish.

I began to scour my cookbooks for mole type dishes. A true mole would take more time than I had. It's not uncommon for there to be 20, 30 ingredients. Each ingredient had to be prepared in some way before it could be added to the sauce (Such as peppers roasted, nuts fried then ground, spices toasted, etc.) Somehow putting so many things together and having them all work in harmony to create such a rich beautiful sauce didn't seem possible. There was almost no instance I could think of in which so many ingredients (people, personalities) could come together and work in harmony to create something so beautiful and rich and heavenly. I wondered how this mole dish came about.

I researched the history of mole. One story comes from the 16th century nuns residing in the Convent of Santa Rosa in Puebla de los Angeles. The archbishop was expected to stop in for a visit. They had nothing to feed him so they prayed and prayed. An angel appeared and inspired them to create the dish now known as mole. It was born of many many ingredients, including peppers, day old bread, spices and of course a little chocolate. After all of the ingredients were gathered and prepared, the sauce cooked for hours and was eventually served over turkey. The archbishop was pleased. (...from Mexonline.com)

*Warning* This rest of this post is spiritually oriented. It gets a little deep. If you didn't bring your boots along, feel free to skip ahead to the actual recipe. :)

"Not Chaos-like together crush'd and bruis'd.
But as the world, harmoniously confused:
Where order in variety we see,
And where tho' all things differ, all agree." --Alexander Pope

Could this dish actually have some spiritual inspiration behind it? Could there be more to it than just a simple sauce? In this crazy world we live in today, where chaos reigns supreme and even the most holy of men seemingly can't find the strength they need to lead, sometimes it's hard to find hope and inspiration. Sometimes we need to look around in our every day lives for that little glimmer of something more than who we are. Not only does God guide us on our way through our spiritual leaders but he is there for us personally, one on one and most of the time in ways we would never believe or expect...until we open those doors and let Him in.
My inspiration this week started out simply enough with just a dinner with friends. It was a great time with some amazing food. Then came the gift (strange chocolate cheese) that once again took me back to researching mole. Apparently...there is a bit more to this dish than one would think upon first glance.

Firstly, the ingredient list is long and the entire recipe requires some work. Just as in our own lives, the things we have to do, the rules we have to follow and the work we have to put in to our own spirituality and relationships, for that matter, isn't easy. The end results, however, are amazingly heavenly.

Don't shy away from something because it seems hard or improbable. You really never know how something will turn out unless you give it a try. Plus, people who don't try have 100 % failure rate.

Even the most bitter of ingredients can be tempered with a little sweetness. Unsweetened chocolate is bitter. Alone, it will always be bitter. Sometimes the personality of something or someone cannot be changed but it can be tempered....smoothed out with a little milk, sweetened with honey (kindness)...and when all else fails, get it drunk. (just kidding) I used sherry in this recipe. When dealing with people, I suggest helping them to get drunk on life instead of alcohol. In the long run however, kindness goes a long way.

It is possible for many ingredients (people and personalities) to come together and work harmoniously for the greater good. We may not see it often and that's unfortunate. The test of our strengths and our ability to work together to achieve amazing things usually only come after strife or a major disaster. We all have it within us. We all have the ability to respect, love and work with one another....we just have to open ourselves up to the idea and let go of our egos.

Sometimes the ingredients need a little work before they can join the pot and play nice with others. Peppers need to be roasted before they are ready. The alcohol needs to be cooked out of the wine. The spices need to be toasted and ground. Some people also need to go through some sort of transformation before they are able to contribute to the end result. Perhaps they need a little roasting, a little tempering, a little growth, a little something-something to help them along. Along with those there are also ones who are already seasoned...and maybe even a few that are a bit over-seasoned. It all depends on your taste.

Sometimes it takes a little time to achieve the desired outcome. Like the old saying goes, anything worth while is worth waiting for. Once all of the ingredients come together in the same pot, it still doesn't mean it's done. It takes a little time to cook out the excess and heighten the flavors. It takes time for all of the ingredients to be exactly where they need to be, working together, mellowing and highlighting each others positive attributes to create the perfect dish.

Just as there are thousands of recipes for mole with an infinite number of ingredients and combinations , each one is perfect in it's own way. In each recipe, time is taken to assemble and create something out of seemingly ordinary and mundane things. It's an act of creation. It's simplicity and it's complexity. It is chaos and order all in one... It's a combination of many different things that form an amazing and unique creation in which lies the possibility of perfection.

Could one get all this just from the simple act of making a dish? I suppose one could if there was an angel inspiring it all. It undoubtedly gives a new meaning to the phrase, Holy Mole!

So after all of this, I decided to come up with my own version of mole. It may not be as involved as many out there but it has it's own story and it was ready in it's own time. It was more about the journey and learning the deeper meaning behind it than the actual dish but I have included the recipe just in case you are interested. Feel free to make the dish your own. Use your own ingredients and work on your own creation...and maybe a little hope and inspiration will come your way.

The Mole

Ingredients

1 Tbsp Cumin Seed

1 Tbsp Coriander Seeds

2 Bay Leaves

2 TbspMexican Oregano

1 Tbsp Ancho Chili Powder

1 tsp Chipotle Chili Powder

1/2 tsp Cayenne

1 Tbsp Smoke Paprika

1/2 tsp Cinnamon

1 tsp Sesame Seeds

1/3 cup Almonds

1/3 cup Dried Cranberries

3 Garlic Cloves

2 oz Unsweetened Chocolate

1/2 Onion

2 or 3 Peppers (I used Cubanelle, Anaheim and Poblano)

2 Chipotle Peppers in Adobo Sauce

1 can Diced Tomatoes

1 Tbsp Tomato Paste

1 Tbsp Honey

1/2 C Sherry

Toast the Cumin and Coriander in a dry pan until fragrant.

Grind in a spice grinder.

Rub Peppers with oil and char the peppers under a broiler until the skins turn black.

Remove skins

Melt chocolate.

Add dry spices.

Add nuts, cranberries, and diced tomato.

Chop an onion.

Caramelize the onions until lightly browned. Add garlic and sesame seeds.

Add sherry and cook out the alcohol.

Add in chopped peppers, onion mixture, tomato paste and stir well.

Simmer on stove for about 30-45 minutes. (If you have more time, let sit and simmer for as long as you need to. Stir occasionally and check for flavor.)